El Capitan: The Nose

Cleaning the Great Roof pitch, El
Capitan, Nose route. Photo: J. Darby.

In June of 1994 I had the chance to climb the El Capitan Nose with Brian Edmiston and John Darby, two people I met through the Camp 4 bulletin board in Yosemite. We did the wall in five days, a fairly traditional time, climbing free at the 5.9 or 5.10a level and standing in aid slings on the harder pitches. Although I have been on other walls and although I have been on harder climbs, the feelings I took away from the summit were an epiphany. I must say I have never experienced a finer rock climb. Despite pin scars and sport bolts, despite garbage and crowds, the Nose is truly a world class route.

Today, climbers tend to associate The Nose with Warren Harding, who undoubtedly was the driving force behind the climb: the route is, indeed, his masterpiece. However, Harding had numerous companions on the venture, most notably Mark Powell and Bill (Dolt) Feuerer in the beginning and Wayne Merry and George Whitmore at the end. Aced out of the first ascent of Half Dome in July of 1957, Harding, Powell, and Feuerer began a siege that continued until November of 1958. Powell was injured on a simple climb, and unable to continue climbing at his previously high standard he slowly dropped out of the climb. Feuerer developed other interests too, leaving Harding to con whomever he could into belaying or portering.

Looking down from the top of Pitch 33, El
Capitan, Nose route. Photo: T. Redfield (courtesy J. Darby).

The route was the work of many people, but it had been planned from the start by the original three. Harding, Powell and Feuerer spent an entire morning scoping El Capitan for a suitable line. On the climb, Harding later wrote, the route went exactly as we had planned, with the possible exception of the Roof Pitch, a formidable-looking overhang about 2000 feet up. I felt it would be best to bypass this obstacle, using a crack somewhat to the east. Later this crack prooved to be only a water stain and we were forced to negotiate the Roof... The photo at left shows the Great Roof pitch from the belay at its end. Brian is cleaning the pitch using Jumar ascenders, a standard big wall tactic: in a two man party, the leader can be hauling the bag at the same time. We were three people, which made the hauling that much easier.

The Nose of El Capitan is 2900 feet high, a distance usually done in thirty four pitches. This photo, shot from the start of the thirty fourth pitch, shows my two friends hanging out at the belay waiting for me to finish the climb. This is the epitome of Yosemite wall climbing: nothing but air, all the way down. The Nose is a route that just keeps getting better and better the higher you climb on it, and here, one pitch below the rim, you look between your legs and can see the entire route spread out in Aryan profile below you. We topped out just before dark, spending the last night reclining in indolent luxury on soft sand lining the erosion pockets weathered into the the summit slabs, happy we had one last night with which to savor the moment. You can only climb the El Capitan Nose for the first time once in your life, and when it is over there is a certain wistfull loss of a dream that is gone. There are other special climbs too, but those that evoke such emotion and feeling are rare indeed: in a world of easily-forgotten, rap-bolted short sport climbs, the Nose remains a masterpiece.

Go to: